how hard can it be?
by armygundamgirl
Summary: Duo and Hilde haven't seen each other since Duo decided that he loved Heero. His daughter now has to deal with the loss of her mother, and meeting her father for the first time. But is her mother dead?
1. Chapter 1

Characters Ages

Zechs 36

Noin 36

Sally 36

John 35

Hilde 34

Heero 34

Duo 34

Trowa 34

Quatre 34

Wufei 34

Relena 34

Trista 19

Felix 18

Jesse 18

Jen 17

Ashley 17

Anna 17

Max 16

Liao 16

Lian 16

Kevin 15

Jamie 15

Angie 14

Manuel 13

David 13

Kyle 10

Daisy 8

Alyssa 8

Shen 7

Keily 2

Rose 2

Relationships

Jesse and Jamie — brother and sister

Daisy and Alyssa – identical twin sisters

Kyle and Keily – brother and sister

Angie — single child All adopted by Heero and Duo except Max who is their test tube child.

Jen — Duo and Hilde's child from before Heero and Duo got together

Anna and Manuel — both Quatre and Trowa's test tube children

Jennifer's POV

I stood at the beginning of the walkway to his house, unable to move forward. Me, the fearless leader of my group of friends, the one to constantly flirt with the law for the sheer fun of it, the one to always pull my friends in with me and then charm our way out of trouble without trying. I was scared to meet my father for the first time. The man that I used to dream about meeting, about yelling at for leaving my mom and I. And then I found out the truth. Mom had left him, and she never even told him that she was pregnant. She was seventeen years old, my age, with no friends, no family, and no money. On the way here I had a lot of time to think about just how strong my mother was, to walk away so that someone else could be happy. Because that's why she did it, he loved someone else. And now I had to meet him. He still didn't know I even existed, and mom said that in her letter to him she wouldn't mention it; she'd leave it up to me as to whether or not I told him. And I was terrified.

Ashley squeezed my shoulder and I jumped. I'd been so lost in thought that I had forgotten almost everything around. I gave her a scared smile in return, then took a deep breath and began walking up to the door, with Ashley on my heels. Ashley. I don't know what I'd have done without her. She accepted everything that had happened in the last few days with a smile and level head while I nearly went ballistic. She was so calm, so cool all the time and I was loud, impulsive, and rarely thought before acting. It's a wonder we're friends at all; but I'm glad we are.

All right, we're at the door now. I can hear the sounds of a party going on inside, and from the noise level it sounded like a good one. I almost turned around and left, not wanting to ruin their happiness, but Ashley caught my sleeve and held me there while she knocked. We heard someone approach the door, and when it was pulled open I nearly shit my pants. The guy that opened the door was about my moms' age, I think, and had cold cobalt blue eyes and a hardened look on his face.

"What do you want?" He asked, trying not to sound harsh though it was clear that he didn't like his party being interrupted. I just stared at him like an idiot, and Ashley elbowed me in the ribs.

"Does…Does Duo Maxwell-Yuy live here?" I finally managed. The guy nodded.

"What do you want with him?" I was a little taken aback by the answer, and paused. Before I could get an answer out, another man with large violet eyes and a long brown braid popped up from behind the one who had answered the door.

"Oi, Heero, who is it?" He asked. Heero stood off to the side and let him get a look at us.

"Two girls. They're asking for you." He said. Duo came into full view and eyed us critically, and I heard Ashley take a sharp breath. My mom was right, except for the fact that I wore my hair in a ponytail as opposed to a braid I was the spitting image of him.

"So? Whatcha want?" He asked jovially, apparently not noticing that I looked like him. Or if he did he was hiding it really well. I was still dumbstruck, and Ashley had to jab me in the ribs again. The noise inside had stopped, and now everyone was watching me, curious as to what two teenage girls were doing there. I thrust out the package that mom had handed to me to give to him and then the letter.

"These are…from my mom. Hilde Scheibeker." I finally managed to say. "The letter explains everything." Duo took them both from me and opened the letter, reading the top part quickly before looking at us again.

"Well, come on! Come in and tell me about your mom, I haven't seen her in ages." He said and tried to pull me inside. I pulled my arm out of his and took a step back. He looked at me curiously, and Ashley positively glared. It was then that Heero finally spoke.

"Who's your father?" He asked bluntly. I began to stutter, not really sure how to say it. I considered lying, saying that I didn't know, but I knew that Ashley would beat the crap out of me later for it.

"I…I…He's…" And I couldn't do it. I just couldn't. He was right there and I had been dreaming about this moment for years and I couldn't do it. So I ran. Bolted is more like it actually. I dropped my bag and ran. I had no where in mind, hell, it was the first time I'd been out of my home town, but I just had to get away from there.

"Ah crap." Ashley muttered under her breath before dropping her bag and following her friend.


	2. Chapter 2

Characters Ages

Zechs 36

Noin 36

Trista 19

Kevin 15

Sally 36

Wufei 34

Felix 18

Liao 16

Lian 16

Shen 7

John 35

Relena 34

David 13

Rose2

Hilde 34

Jen 17

Ashley 17

Heero 34

Duo 34

Jesse 18

Max 16

Jaime 15

Kyle 10

Daisy 8

Alyssa 8

Keily 2

Trowa 34

Quatre 34

Anna 17

Manuel 13

Relationships

Jesse and Jamie — brother and sister

Daisy and Alyssa – identical twin sisters

Kyle and Keily – brother and sister

All adopted by Heero and Duo except Max who is their test tube child.

Jen — Duo and Hilde's child from before Heero and Duo got together

Anna and Manuel — both Quatre and Trowa's test tube children

Zechs, Noin, John and Relena will eventually show up with their kids, though not for a few chapters. All of the kids plus John are my own creation, you want to use them, ask me. Everyone else is of course property of whatever company made them. I can't remember it right now and I don't feel like looking it up. Enjoy!

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"Ah crap." Ashley muttered under her breath before dropping her bag and following her friend. Duo and Heero blinked in confusion, and Wufei came up to them.

"Everything all right?" He asked. Heero and Duo turned to him, and Heero sighed.

"Not sure. That was Hilde's daughter, she was delivering this. I think you should take a look at it, you being a Preventer and all." Duo said and handed him the package, but keeping the letter for himself. He then turned to Heero. "What the hell possessed you to ask that question Love?" He asked. Heero shook his head.

"You look at yourself in the mirror and you didn't see the resemblance? She may be Hilde's daughter but she's the spitting image of you, and she looks about the right age." He said.

"But why didn't Hilde ever say anything? She never even told me that she was pregnant before she left." Heero shrugged.

"Beats me, I have no idea what goes through a girls head." Duo turned to Wufei, who had started flipping through the package.

"How about you Wufei? You married a woman after all." Wufei shrugged.

"And I still don't understand them, especially _that_ one." He said referring to Sally. Duo sighed.

"I guess we better go after the girl and straighten this out, huh?" He said.

"Up to you. From her reaction it's more than likely Hilde only told her about you recently." Duo pushed his bangs back from his eyes.

"Let's go. Who knows what she'll do in the state she's in."

888

"Dammit Jen, stop right now!" Ashley called out as she chased after her friend. Jen didn't slow down, she just kept running. Ashley rolled her eyes and easily picked up her pace. Jen may be one of the best at everything she did, but Ashleyhad always beenthe better runner. She caught up with Jen in the park and tackled her to the ground, continuing a fight that had been going on since the third grade. They wrestled around, not paying attention to any form, until finally Ashley had Jen pinned to the ground.

"Dammit Ash, let me up!" Jen demanded as she struggled against the hold.

"Not until you tell me what the fuck is going through your head!" Ashley shouted. Jen kicked her in the back of the head then rolled out from under her and came up in a fighting stance. Ashley did the same, and they watched each other warily as they circled one another.

"I don't know what to think right now." Jen said. Ashley threw a kick to the head which Jen caught and used to throw her to the ground. Ashley rolled and swept Jens legs out from under her.

"Not good enough Jen, I know you better than that!" Jen used her legs to jump off the ground, but she landed on her ankle wrong and twisted it, falling to the ground. Ashley just stood over her with her arms crossed as the first tears leaked out of Jens eyes.

"How would you feel," She started with. "If you found out for the first time who your father was. After a lifetime of dreaming about who he might be and why he wasn't in your life you find out and he's not what you expected." She took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut against the tears. "And then, imagine finding out that your mother is dead, that she planned her death, and you don't even have time to mourn it before you have to run to a person that you know nothing about. And then to find out that said person has a life, a wonderfully happy life that you have no business interrupting. Tell me how you would feel dammit!" Jen all but shouted. Ashley wasn't able to answer.

"I guess I'd feel pretty lousy, not to mention scared." Duo said from behind them. They both turned to him in surprise, and then Jen turned away and Ashley sighed.

"I'm just going to be over there." She said and walked off to a park bench that was far enough away for father and daughter to have some privacy but close enough if Jen needed her. Duo crouched down next to Jen.

"I'm guessing from the way that you've been acting that I'm your father."

"So my mom told me."

"Never would have guessed that your dad was a former Gundam pilot huh?"

"I wasn't able to guess anything because my mom didn't tell me anything. All I had were dreams."

"Sometimes that's all one needs." They sat in silence for a while, until Jen tried to stand. She managed to make it up, but all of her weight was on her good foot, using the other one for balance only. Duo stood up with her.

"So am I?"

"Are you what?"

"Going to be a damn inconvenience 'cause if I am I'll leave right now." She started to hobble away, but Duo stepped in front of her.

"Why would you think that?"

"Because that's what's going to happen, isn't it? You're now going to feel obligated to try and talk, to get to know me. Well I really could care less, I've made it this long without a father, I can keep going."

"Maybe. But I know from experience that growing up without parents sucks." Jen finally looked at him, seeing all of the pain and hurt in his eyes that she felt in her own heart. She burst into tears, and he took her in his arms, rocking her back and forth. She felt safe, warm there, and she just let her tears flow. When she finished, Duo wiped the last of them from her eyes, then slipped an arm around her waist and pulled one of hers over his shoulder. "So, are you ready to meet your extended dysfunctional family?" He said with a smile. Jen couldn't help but smile back.

"They can't be anymore dysfunctional then my friends and I." She said as they slowly made their way to where Ashley was waiting.

"Well, since I don't know you and your friends I can't make a comparison, so you'll have to tell me who's more dysfunctional after you spend a few days with us." Jen nodded to Ashley, who stood up and took Jen's other side.

"You can meet one right now. This is Ashley, the most dysfunctional of my friends. She has to be if she hangs out with me. Ashley, meet Duo, my...father." Ashley nodded in acknowledgement.

"Nice to meet you. And let me warn you, you're in for a ride if you're going to get to know her."

"Yeah? How so?"

"Because she's the She-Devil in disguise." Duo gave them both a grin.

"Well whatta ya know, I'm Shinigami himself." Duo extricated himself from Jen and let Ashley fully take over. "Here, I gotta call the others and let them know I found you." They both looked at him in surprise.

"You're not the only one who came after us?" Jen asked as she climbed onto Ashley's back, which was easier than trying to walk; they knew this from experience.

"Well yeah, with the state you were in we weren't going to just let you wander around an unfamiliar city. Besides, your mother may not have contacted me for the last 17 or so years, but she still holds a special place in my heart." Jen just blinked at him in confusion as he rang Heero on his cell. "Heero? Yeah, I found her. We're heading back to the house now. Tell Sally to have some bandages ready, she got in a fight with her friend and hurt her ankle." Ashley looked up at Jen.

"I really should beat the crap out of you, you know." She said.

"What for? And you've been trying since we met; you haven't succeeded."

"For being so scared. You can be such an idiot sometimes."

"Sometimes? I thought you knew me better. I'm always an idiot."

"Yeah yeah." They reached the house to find that most everyone was outside waiting for them, and they guessed that Sally was the one with the first aid kit in hand. Duo waved happily to all of them as Wufei and Heero also came up the sidewalk.

"Hey everyone! I'd like you to meet my daughter Jen, and her friend Ashley. Everyone say hi!"

"Hi Jen and Ashley!" They all said in some monotone, TV audience voice. Jen and Ashley just looked at each other before, literally, falling down laughing. Wufei shook his head.

"I have a very bad feeling about them." He muttered loud enough for everyone to hear. Jen and Ashley looked up at them, ready with a quick retort about him not knowing them, but Sally beat them to it as she examined Jen's ankle.

"What makes you say that dear?" She asked.

"They both remind me of Duo." Jen and Ashley looked confused while everyone else laughed. Sally shook her head.

"Don't worry about him, he's harmless. I'm Sally Po-Chang by the way, Wufei's husband. All right, all set." She said as she finished wrapping Jens ankle and Ashley helped her to stand up.

"Thanks." Jen said. "Um, this may be kinda dumb, but who is everyone?" She asked, eyeing the rather large group of people. Everyone laughed.

"It's not dumb at all." Duo said. "I was about to introduce you to everyone anyway. First we'll start with my friends, though by the time we finish you probably won't remember everyone."

"If I were normal that would be true, but I am far from normal. Plus I have a photographic memory, I remember everything."

"Okay. First and most important to me is Heero, he's the guy that answered the door. He's uh…"

"The reason my mom left. It's okay, you can say it."

"Um, right. How is your mom anyway? Why didn't she come with you?" Jen dug into the ground with her toe, and Ashley answered.

"It's probably best if we talk about that later." She said. Duo nodded.

"All right then. The next one is Wufei over there, or Wu-man as I like to call him."

"Maxwell!"

"Yeah yeah, keep your shirt on. He's married to the lovely Sally though how she can stand him I don't know. They have four kids; Felix is the oldest at 18, everyone raise their hand or do something so they can place a face with the name." Felix nodded in acknowledgement. "Then there's Liao and Lian, 16 year old twins." They both nodded as well. "And the youngest is Shen at the most adorable age of seven."

"I'm not adorable! I'm a warrior like my father!"

"Like I said, adorable. Next we have Quatre Winner and Trowa Barton, married, and their kids are Anna at 17 and Manuel at 13." Manuel came over to shake hands politely, but Anna couldn't help herself, she jumped up and down with excitement.

"Hi! It's really nice to meet you! I'm Anna and I'm finally happy that there are more girls my age. And I've had a lot of sugar today." Trowa steered his daughter away from them with a nod of his own, and Quatre came to shake their hands warmly.

"It's a bit of a surprise but it's still nice to meet you." He said. Both girls looked up at him with wide eyes. He looked at them curiously. "Is something wrong?"

"Holy fuckin shit you're Senator Winner from Colony L-4." Jen said without any shame. Quatre burst out in a large smile.

"Yes, you could say it like that. And I hope that you don't take it the wrong way since we've only just met, but you are most definitely your father's daughter." He moved away with his arm around Manuel's shoulder.

"Now, if you can get over your shock of meeting a senator, I'll introduce you to Heero's and my little army. We have Jesse and Jamie, 18 and 15, adopted but no less loved; Kyle and Keily, 8 and 2, adopted also but no less loved; Daisy and Alyssa, 8 year old twins, adopted again but no less loved; and then there's Max, 16 and our very own creation. All of you little minions come over here and say hello." Jesse was the first to come up to them, dragging his sister with him and held out his hand.

"Hi, I'm Jesse. My sister's being rude at the moment, but don't mind her. She's just in a bad mood cause her boyfriend dumped her recently."

"He did not dump me! I dumped him when I found out that he was cheating on me!" Jamie shouted indignantly and stuck out her hand. Kyle and Keily came over next, Keily toddling behind her brother as she held his hand and looked up at both girls shyly before her brother told her to wave hello. She then hid her face in her brothers pants leg. Kyle himself gave the most adorable bow and held out a flower to each of them that he had just picked from the lawn, then ran off with his sister to hide behind Jesse.All of the adults couldn't help but go 'ahhhhh' over the whole thing, and then had to jump out of the way when Daisy and Alyssa came running over, their faces sticky with whatever sugar they had gotten into.

"HIHIHIHIHI! We're Daisy and Alyssa. I'm Daisy, she's Alyssa!" Daisy said as the two girls jumped up and down. "We're twins, and we HATE to be dressed alike, even though Duo daddy likes to try. Papa Heero doesn't though, and it's really funny to watch him stop Duo Daddy from dressing us alike." Duo and Heero looked down at the twins, who both looked up and knew that they had been caught.

"Did you two sneak into the ice cream again?" Duo asked. Both girls bowed their heads and shuffled their feet. They knew it was useless to lie.

"Yes."

"Well, since that was supposed to be for later, you two can watch as everyone else eats their ice cream." All protests were silenced by a look from Heero, and it took all of their restraint to keep from laughing at the twins, who immediately latched onto Heero's legs. Duo had no such restraint, and broke out in a very large grin. Matt came up last, sauntering among all of them. He stopped in front of Jen, and the two of them had a staring contest for a few minutes.

"So you and I are blood related." He said, breaking the silence.

"Looks like it." Jen said, not really sure how to react to that. Matt then broke out in an identical grin to Duo's and swept her up in a bear hug, lifting her off her feet and swinging her around.

"This is awesome! Not like I need another sister, but you and I share the same blood! That makes it twice as cool!" Matt finally set her down on the ground, where she swayed a little unsteadily. She leaned out for Ashley and held on for support. They all looked at her curiously.

"Owww, my stomach..." Jen moaned. Matt looked at her apologeticly.

"Are you hurt? I didn't mean to, I swear! I was just so happy to have a blood sister that I couldn't contain myself." He said, truly looking like he was sorry. Ashley waved her hand dismissively.

"It's not your fault, Jen just got a little sick on the way over here and she's still recovering." She said. Duo was at once the protective father.

"Was it serious? You should be inside, resting!" Heero put his hand on Duo's shoulder.

"Calm down love, she looks fine. Let's all go back inside." He said, then turned to Ashley and Jen. You two must be tired. We've got a spare room if you don't mind sharing." Both girls shook their heads.

"We practically live in each others rooms on the weekends anyway, so it won't be that much of a change." Jen said.

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sorry about the weird ending, I couldn't think of a good way to end this, so I just did. And don't worry, the next chapter will show more of the children, plus physical descriptions once I figure them out; Heero's reaction to Jennifer and hers to him; what happened to Hilde and why Jen had to run; and depending on how long that turns out I may put more of the other pilots children in. If not the next chapter, then definately the one after that! Review please!


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own, have no money, don't sue.

Thanks to all who reviewed! Shaeric Draconis, silvershard, Bad Scorpio, and Griffen. I love that other people like what I'm writing. This chapter will explain what happened to Hilde andHeero's take on Duo's daughter. Enjoy!

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Characters Ages

Zechs 36

Noin 36

Trista 19

Kevin 15

Sally 36

Wufei 34

Felix 18

Liao 16

Lian 16

Shen 7

John 35

Relena 34

David 13

Rose 2

Hilde 34

Jen 17

Ashley 17

Heero 34

Duo 34

Jesse 18

Max 16

Jamie 15

Kyle 10

Daisy 8

Alyssa 8

Keily 2

Trowa 34

Quatre 34

Anna 17

Manuel 13

Relationships

Jesse and Jamie — brother and sister

Daisy and Alyssa – identical twin sisters

Kyle and Keily – brother and sister

All adopted by Heero and Duo except Max who is their test tube child.

Jen — Duo and Hilde's child from before Heero and Duo got together

Anna and Manuel — both Quatre and Trowa's test tube children

888

Duo closed the door to the guest room that Jen and Ashley were occupying, taking one last look at his daughter. His daughter. He still couldn't believe that he had a daughter and never knew about it. That Hilde had never even told him that she was pregnant. He could understand that she would have wanted to stay away for a few years until everything that had happened to them had settled down, but to never tell him? To never let him know that he had his very own child out there, to never tell her about her father? To leave her wondering where she came from? That was what hit him most of all, that Hilde had waited until she was going to die before telling her daughter who her father was.

Duo sighed and opened the door to his and Heero's room, where he found Heero sitting on the bed, staring off into space. He seemed oblivious to everything, but Duo knew that he was just going through everything that had happened today. Duo sat next to him and covered his hand. Heero looked at him, then placed a kiss on his forehead.

"So what do you think Heero? I mean, about my…my…my daughter." Duo said hesitantly. Heero just held him close, and Duo knew from experience that he was trying to find the right words to express what he felt. Even after all this time he still had some difficulty saying certain things.

"What do you think of her?" He asked instead of answering. Duo sighed.

"I don't know. It's like…like seeing myself if I'd had a normal life. Except with breasts." Heero laughed, long, deep and throaty; the kind that Duo had learned to interpret as being really happy. Duo couldn't help smiling at his own answer.

"She is definitely interesting. And you're right, it is a bit like looking into a mirror. I wouldn't be surprised if she turned out to be just as stubborn, just as crazy as you. And I wouldn't be surprised if she sleeps for most of tomorrow either." He said, his lips quirking upward in a smirk. Duo pushed Heero down onto the bed and lay on top of him, his chin resting on his hands which were on Heero's chest.

"Why do you say that love? Sure she fell asleep right away, but I'll bet that she rises with the roosters. Hilde always did."

"She was exhausted Duo. And she was scared, not just of meeting you either. It probably has something to do with that packet that you handed Wufei, and the fact that she didn't want to talk about her mom." Duo intertwined his fingers with Heero's and looked into his eyes.

"That may be so." He said "But you still haven't answered my question. What do you think of her?" Heero captured his lovers lips in a passionate kiss. When they broke, that same question was still in Duo's eyes. Heero sighed.

"I don't know."

888

As much as Jen normally loved to sleep in, the next morning she awoke with a searing pain in her stomach, and knew that it was happening again. She stumbled out of the room and started looking for the bathroom, remembering that she had passed it on the way to the guest room.

She made it in and to the toilet just in time, as her stomach decided to let loose everything that she had eaten the day before. She knew that it was still really early in the morning, and so was surprised when she felt a pair of strong hands on her back, moving in soothing circles and holding her hair out of the way. In between bouts she looked up to find Felix sitting next to her, his face gentle and caring.

"Shhh, shhh, it's all right. Just let it come. Don't try to fight it." He murmured softly, his voice having a naturally calming effect on her. She was dizzy, and her stomach heaved and she once again had to turn her head to the toilet.

Finally she was done, and she sat back against the wall, accepting the wash cloth from Felix.

"Thank you." She said softly, her throat hurting from all that had passed through it.

"Do you want me to get your friend? Or your dad?" He asked. Jen shook her head.

"Not fair to disturb their sleep for a stupid stomach flu." She mumbled, though she didn't look at him. Felix sat next to her.

"That's no stomach flu." He stated. She turned her head to look at him, then had to turn away when she met his piercing gaze.

"Course it is. I sure as hell ain't pregnant. I'm still a virgin." She said, though she couldn't help a little fear creeping into her voice. But what if she was? She still couldn't remember what had happened that one night, though Chris swore up and down that he hadn't touched her. But she had never really trusted the jackass, so he could very easily be lying. Her head swam with the possibility.

"Well, maybe that's not it, but it definitely isn't the flu. You should let my mom take a look at you, she's a doctor."

"And you're my age, how would you know if it was the flu or not?" Jen bit back. She didn't mean to be so offensive, but it was a natural habit that she had developed over the years when she was caught in unfamiliar situations.

"I know because I have three siblings, one of whom just had the stomach flu. And since I'm the oldest, I watched my mother through both her pregnancies. Granted, I was two when the twins were born, but we notice more at that age than adults give us credit for." He said and gave her a wink, making her smile slightly.

"All right, I'll go see your mom. If only to get some medicine so that I can sleep without having to get up and heave." Felix laughed, and it was the kind of laugh that made you want to laugh along with the person. Jen couldn't help herself, but unfortunately that made her stomach hurt even more. Felix stood up and held out his hand to her.

"C'mon, my mom should be up by now. She can take a look at you before everyone else gets up." Jen let him pull her to her feet and followed him to the kitchen, where she not only found his mother, but Ashley was awake as well. The two of them were sharing a cup of coffee, and Ashley was grilling Sally about medical school, which she hoped to go to. They both looked up as the two of them walked in, and Ashley immediately noticed her friends' paleness.

"You were throwing up again." She stated as Jen sat down.

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"I didn't want to disturb your sleep."

"Baka." Ashley mumbled as she crossed her eyes at Jen. Felix took a seat next to his mother after getting himself and Jen some juice.

"Mom, can you take a look at Jen? She swears it's the stomach flu, but I think it might be something else." He said. Jen glared at him.

"I was going to ask her myself you know." She grumbled. Ashley rolled her eyes.

"Sure you were sis. You were going to ask for help except that, oh wait! You never ask for help." Jen punched her in the arm, and Sally smiled.

"I'd be glad to take a look at you, we can go to the university office for some privacy if you like. But first my husband is going to want to talk to you about that packet you handed Duo." Both Ashley and Jen stared down at their drinks.

"Guess it had to come sooner or later." Ashley mumbled.

"Don't really know much about it, actually." Jen said and took a cautious sip of her juice, sighing gratefully when her stomach didn't object.

"Don't know much about what?" Wufei asked as he came in, giving his wife a peck on the cheek before getting his own cup of coffee. Heero and Duo came in, with Heero dragging a half sleeping Duo behind him. Duo gave a loud yawn as he tried not to fall asleep in the chair that Heero placed him in.

"What's everyone talking about?" He asked and inhaled the coffee's aroma once a mug was placed in front of him. Trowa and Quatre came in next, both looking fairly wide awake.

"Jen and Ashley were about to tell us why they appeared so suddenly." Sally said. Everyone looked at the girls expectantly, and they both stared down at their drinks again.

"Well, it started about two years ago when my mom began dating this really creepy guy." Jen started, swirling her juice around in her cup. "I never really liked the look of him, but mom said that I needed a father figure so she was dating. She started staying out really late and going away for long weekends with him, but she would never tell me where. And when she was home she was usually at the computer. She said that she was working, but she had never brought her work home before. At the time, I didn't pay much attention to the guy, just enough so that I wasn't around when he was. Like I said, he was creepy." Everyone was quiet, somehow knowing that what she was remembering was hard for her. Ashley put a supportive hand on her shoulder, and left it there the entire time that she spoke.

"And then about a month ago mom stopped dating him, and then she really went at her computer. I could barely get her to leave the damn thing, not like I tried all that hard. Ashley and I were getting our things ready to ship to a friend of ours, who lives near the University here. We both got accepted, and he invited us to stay with him during the summer so that we could get used to the town and get a little spending money. Mom was planning on moving after we left, so we just shipped our things to his house little by little. All we had left at home were the bags that we had with us yesterday."

"So what happened?" Trowa asked. Jen took a deep breath.

"We were on the bus heading for Jacks place when I find that packet and letter from my mom, plus one written to me, in my bag. In the letter that she wrote to me, she explained that she had only dated that bastard because she suspected that he was part of a terrorist organization who was going to bring back war, and when she had gotten all the information that she could she left him and compiled it to give to the Preventers. Unfortunately, she said that they were now watching her too closely, and she would be unable to give them the information herself. So she stuck it in my bag, knowing that I was going to be going to the University that my…father…was teaching at. That's when I found out who you were." She said to Duo, who nodded solemnly. He was now fully awake, and was listening with rapt attention along with everyone else.

"Where's your mom now?" He asked quietly, almost fearing what she would answer. Jen looked up, the words dying in her throat as she choked back tears. Ashley picked up the story from here.

"She's dead." There was complete silence from around the table, so quiet you would have heard a single cricket chirping.

"How?" Quatre asked.

"She killed herself. The police called Jen's cell phone when we were about halfway here. They told us that she had drank some poison and then set the apartment on fire before it killed her. They wanted Jen to come back and fill out the paperwork and everything, but we had just taken a look inside that packet and decided that it was more important to get that into the right hands. We told the police officer that we were carrying out her last wishes." Everyone was silent, either staring at their drinks or the wall while Jen tried desperately to hold the tears in. Each of the couples squeezed each other tightly, silently grieving for their lost friend and seeking comfort in each others embraces.

The silence didn't last long, as the rest of the children began to wake up and started coming down the stairs, wanting to know when breakfast was. Jen slipped away to her room when everyone was occupied with the younger kids, and Ashley followed, giving silent comfort to her as she finally let herself have a good, long cry. Ashley handed her some tissue when she was finished.

"So, you want me to come with you when Sally examines you?" She asked. Jen hiccupped and shook her head.

"I gotta start doing things on my own. You've practically been carrying me since we found out. You hide it well, but it's starting to wear on you."

"And you think spending a day with this many people in the house is going to be relaxing? Especially after we saw what they were all like yesterday?" She said, her mouth quirking upwards in a smile. Jen gave a small smile in return.

"Just think of it as a day at school."

"School sucked Jen."

"I'm not talking about that part. Just deal with everyone like you would our group of friends. Lots of patience and blatant honesty." Ashley then glomped her, sending them both onto the bed.

"Are you sure that you don't want me to come?"

"I'm sure dammit! Besides, you have to call Jack and tell him where we are, he's probably freaking out." Both girls giggled at the idea of Jack freaking out, which they had seen on more than one occasion.

"All right all right! I'll stay behind! But you'd better get ready."

"Yeah yeah."

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Did you like? The next chapter will be from Ashley's point of view and the personalities of all the children, their relationships with each other, etc...don't know yet whether this will be first person or not. Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

Characters Ages

Zechs 36

Noin 36

Trista 19

Kevin 18

Sally 36

Wufei 34

Felix 18

Liao 16

Lian 16

Shen 7

John 35

Relena 34

David 13

Rose 2

Hilde 34

Jen 17

Ashley 17

Heero 34

Duo 34

Jesse 18

Max 16

Jamie 15

Kyle 8

Daisy 8

Alyssa 8

Keily 2

Trowa 34

Quatre 34

Anna 17

Manuel 13

Relationships

Jesse and Jamie — brother and sister

Daisy and Alyssa – identical twin sisters

Kyle and Keily – brother and sister

All adopted by Heero and Duo except Max who is their test tube child.

Jen — Duo and Hilde's child from before Heero and Duo got together

Anna and Manuel — both Quatre and Trowa's test tube children

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Breakfast? Uh oh.

Complete chaos. That was the only way that Ashley could describe it. She had thought that mealtimes at Jen's house when all their friends had slept over was chaos, but this beat it by a landslide. She simply watched in fascination as everyone either tried to help, or tried to eat everything before it was cooked(That was Max, and Ashley remarked to herself how alike the two siblings were).

Trowa and Heero were the ones cooking, and from an earlier display it looked like they didn't trust anyone else to do so. Duo was pulling down Lord knows how many cereal boxes and passing them off to the kids, who were dutifully setting them around the dining room table. Wufei was in vain trying to get the children to set the bowls, plates and spoons just right, and Quatre was trying to keep him from loosing his temper with the children when they wouldn't put things the way he wanted.

Shen and Kyle had grabbed the box of Cheerios and two bowls, plus the carton of milk, and were trying to eat their own breakfast while at the same time getting Keily to eat hers. She just waved her hands in the air and blew spit bubbles at them, then grabbing their spoons and banging on her high chair with them. Both little boys were at a loss at what to do, since whenever they tried to extricate the spoons from her fingers she started wailing. Ashley couldn't help but think how adorable this was, with Kyle trying to be patient and Shen getting the same frustrated look that his father currently had with the other children. She eventually took pity on the boys and pulled out her flashing keychain, turning it on and holding it in front of Keily's face for her to see. The toddler immediately lost interest in the spoons and watched the lights in fascination, reaching for it. Ashley gave it to her, then took some of the cheerios from the box and spread them on the high chair table. Both boys looked at her gratefully and began to eat their breakfast.

Daisy and Alyssa were jumping around Trowa and Heero, telling them what they wanted and _exactly_ how to prepare it. There were large wails from the twins if either man tried anything different from the instructions. Manuel was quietly eating the pancakes that had been made earlier, covering them in so much syrup that they were nearly swimming, and Anna asked if he wanted to use a spoon instead of a fork. He glared at his sister, who just smiled back sweetly.

Max, who had been banned from the kitchen earlier along with Duo tugged on her sleeve.

"Psst, us older kids are going out to eat. Want to leave this craziness and join us?" He said, flashing her a devilish grin. Ashley smiled back and nodded enthusiastically, and let him pull her to the front door.

"Papa! Dad! We're going out to eat!" Max called as they walked out of the house.

"Be back in time for lunch! Call if you're going to be late!" Dou shouted back. Max then proceeded to practically drag Ashley to the van, where Felix was getting it started, and Liao, Lian, Anna, Jesse and Jaime were already waiting.

"Operation Rescue successful!" Max called out as he and Ashley climbed in.

"Is it always like that?" She asked as they began driving.

"Only when we all get together under one roof." Liao said.

"Ha! Speak for your own family!" Jesse shot back. "It can get far worse, especially if Max or dad decide to set up some practical jokes."

"That just makes meal time more interesting." Anna said.

"Sorry to subject you to that without any warning." Jaime said to Ashley, who shook her head and smiled.

"You should have seen Jens and my sleepovers with our friends. Every time we had one, we both swore that her mom was going to forbid us from having any more at her place."

"So where is my new sister?" Max asked, stretching his legs out and laying them on the arm rests of the seat in front of him.

"MAX! GET YOUR FEET OFF MY SEAT!" Lian shouted. Max immediately did so, having experienced her anger on more than one occasion. Mostly due to his pulling practical jokes.

"Jen went with my mom to get some medicine for her stomach." Felix said as he pulled up to a little coffee shop. They all filed out and walked in, and Ashley could have sworn that if this were an anime, all of the waitresses would have little sweat drops at the sight of them.

"So what's my new sister like?" Max asked once they had sat down and given the waitress their order. Ashley leaned back with her hands behind her head and stared up at the ceiling. They all waited silently while she appeared to be thinking. She looked at all of them staring at her.

"What? I'm just trying to decide what I can tell you without tempting the Wrath of Jen." She said.

"So I take it she's vengeful." Lian said.

"Vengeful? For something like this? No, you have to practically get her pissed to see that side of her. I'm just trying to decide how much of my dirt I want her to dish out later."

"Why don't you start with her personality then?" Liao said. They paused briefly as the waitress arrived with their orders, Max's being the largest with 4 plates. Ashley stared at him.

"You're going to eat all of that?" She asked. Max nodded happily as he slathered the French toast, pancakes, and waffles with butter and syrup.

"Of course. It should hold me over until we get home. I would have gotten more but forgot to bring more money with me."

"Just like Jen. I don't believe it." Everyone else groaned.

"Just what we need, another one." Felix said sulkily.

"What, you mean he's loud-mouthed, hot-headed, stubborn as all hell, and the biggest trouble maker there is without actually getting into trouble?" They all nodded. "Then you do have another one."

"YES! That means more fun!" Jaime said happily.

"Is there any time when she can be normal?" Jesse asked as his sister stole a sausage off his plate.

"She scammed me and three of our friends out of twenty bucks last year to prove just that." Everyone started laughing, and Max had this small, innocent little smirk on his face. How he managed to make a smirk look innocent was a mystery to Ashley. "What's so funny?"

"Max scammed us all for forty bucks doing the same thing last year as well." Felix said. "Which type of person did you pick as being normal?"

"The dumb cheerleader of course. We had an _army_ of them at our school." Everyone began laughing again, and Max once again had that smirk on his face. Ashley instantly caught on. "Don't tell me that you did the dumb jock." Max broke out into a large grin.

"But of course." Ashley then broke out laughing with the rest of them, and the rest of breakfast wasn't much different.

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Hello again everyone! Did you like it? Sorry it's a little short, but I felt that was a good stopping place. Okay, I know that I promised to include what everyone looks like, but I haven't been able to fit it into the story so here it is under this right here.

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Personalities and Looks

Felix: 18, somewhat reserved, very much like his father, but with a soft side that he doesn't mind showing. Spitting image of him.

Liao & Lian: 16, more open than their older brother, but still reserved. Liao has a quiet stubborn side that counters his sisters wild stubbornness. Both spitting images of their father, not having inherited the blonde hair from their mother. Both have the lighter eyes though.

Shen: 7, doesn't like that he can't always hang out with his older siblings, whom he idolizes. Takes his fathers martial arts training very seriously, and hates to be left out of things because he's young. Best friends with Kyle.

Anna: 17, spitting image of Quatre with long blonde hair and blue eyes. Loves sugar and can get very hyper, but otherwise is very calm. Always up for a little mischief.

Manuel: 13, spitting image of Trowa, though without the large uni-bang. His hair easily falls into his face though, giving him the same one-eyed appearance. Emerald eyes, and a quiet demeanor like Trowa.

Both kids study gymnastics and music with their father, and have inherited Quatre's empathic abilities.

Max: 16, a complete mixture of Duo and Heero. Inherited Duo's hair and wears it in a braid, has Heero's eyes, mischievous to all ends, can rival Heero's 'death glare' when he wants to or gets really mad. Is fiercely protective of all his siblings. Talented with computers and mechanics. Can sing really well.

Jesse & Jaime: 18, 15. Found by Heero after they ran away from home because their dad tried to rape Jaime when they were 13, 10. Both are mostly Italian, with dark brown hair and blue eyes. Very temperamental.

Kyle & Keily: Part Mexican, part Native American, part white. Light skin with wild dark hair and brown eyes. Both were found wandering the streets by Duo a year ago and Kyle said that their parents had been killed by drug people and he didn't trust the police. Kyle is very quiet and reserved, and is Shen's best friend. Completely attached to his sister and will do anything to keep from being a burden to Duo and Heero. Keily is two and adorable, and knows it to. Hangs on to her brother most of the time, but has started to latch onto the other children, especially Max.

Daisy and Alyssa: both 8, very similar in appearance, but not identical. Daisy has light brown/dirty blonde hair while Alyssa has strawberry blonde hair. Both have blue eyes and fair skin. Adopted from Duo and Heero's neighbor when they were 6 months old after their parents died in a car accident. Very hyper, and love to play matchmaker.

Jennifer: Spitting image of Duo, though with a shine to her hair that in certain lights makes it look closer to Hilde's coloring. Blue-violet eyes, though more blue than violet. Loves to play jokes on people and doesn't care what others think of her. Very sure of herself most of the time, though lately not so much. Loves to help people, and while very smart wants a career that has to do with the arts, not sure exactly what yet though.

Ashley: Complete opposite of Jen. Long, straight blonde hair, fair skin, and bright blue eyes. Fairly stylish, though with her own flair. Loves to help people and wants to become a doctor. Very cool and level headed, but has a hidden devilish streak to rival Jens. Both girls think of each other as sisters and would die for each other.


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry for the long update, and the short chapter, but I got stuck and then it was the perfect place to end the chapter. Thanks to all who have reviewed and those who have kept reading! On with the story! Enjoy!

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Jen stared at Sally, absolutely speechless. Sally sat there patiently, waiting for the news to sink in.

"I'm……what?" She finally asked.

"Pregnant."

"But I'm still a virgin." Sally nodded.

"As best I can figure, whoever did this to you must have used a syringe to inject his semen into you." Jen sat quiet for a moment. A brief moment before she exploded.

"That rat bastard. That mother fucking lying son of a bitch rat bastard!" She then began to swear in at least four languages, and Sally waited patiently for this initial burst of anger to finish.

"So what do you want to do?" Sally asked. Jen sat there and fumed for a minute.

"Well, I sure as hell can't have this kid."

"Why not?" Sally asked as she began cleaning up and Jen got dressed.

"What kind of life would this kid have? I am in no way ready to be a mother, I can't stand the bastard that did this to me, and what would I tell this kid when they asked about their father? My mom could at least tell me that she was in love with mine." Jen hopped off the exam table and followed Sally to the parking lot.

"But are you sure that's what you want to do? This is a major decision that you made awfully quick." Jen sighed as she got in the car.

"I promised myself that when I had children I'd be married to someone I love. I don't even _like_ the bastard." Sally sighed.

"If you're sure about it, then I am in no position to talk you out of it. I know of a good clinic nearby, but I don't suggest you go alone. And I will have to tell my husband about this, since the guy that did this was the same guy who your mom was dating." Jen nodded and silently stared out the window for the rest of the ride.

When they arrived back at the house, they found a massive game of water tag in progress, in which everyone was participating. Everyone that is, except for Trowa, Heero, and Wufei. And Ashley, but that might have something to do with the fact that she was holding a cell phone as far away from her ear as her arm could reach and looking like her ears hurt like hell. Jen immediately headed for her, while Sally headed for her husband to tell him of the recent development. Duo caught Jens eyes before she could reach her friend.

"Everything going all right?" He asked. Jen was a little surprised to find that his voice held real concern. She smiled weakly in return.

"Yeah. I'll tell you about it later." She wasn't sure why she had said that, since she had planned to just go with the stomach flu story. He gave her a bright smile before he was assaulted by no less than five separate water balloons. Jen made it to Ashley, and recognized their friend Jacks voice yelling over the phone. And he was _loud_.

"…_can't believe you didn't call me before now! I can understand that you had things to do, but to have the police call looking for you…"_

"Have you been able to explain anything to him?" Jen asked. Ashley shook her head.

"The only words I've been able to say were 'hi Jack, it's Ashley'. That's when he started yelling his tirade." Jen rolled her eyes, then bent close to the mouthpiece of the phone and whispered.

"Hi Jack. It's Jen. I met my father." There was stunned silence from the phone as Jack processed this information.

"_Where is he? Is he there? Let me talk to him! I want to make sure that he's going to treat my baby sisters right!"_ Duo then wandered over to see what was going on, since everyone could hear the conversation anyway. At least Jacks part of it.

"You already know him Jack. He's your mechanics professor, the one you kept raving about last year." Again there was silence, from both Jack and Duo.

"_Seriously?"_

"Have I ever lied to you?"

"That's not Jack Granek, is it?" Duo asked. Both girls nodded, then everyone had to cover their ears as Jack screeched into the phone.

"_AIEEEEEEEE! You're serious? Mr. MY is your father? How the hell did that happen?"_

"Jack, please tell me you know about the birds and the bees. How else could it be done? Don't answer that." Ashley said quickly, since there were now several ways it could be done and Jack was likely to list all of them. Jen turned to her father.

"Mr. MY?" She asked. Duo shrugged.

"It's what my students call me. I don't really like being called professor, and saying 'Maxwell-Yuy all the time gets a little annoying. A few years ago one of the kids started calling me Mr. MY, short for Maxwell-Yuy, and it just sort of stuck."

"That's so cool."

"_Jen, you're not an only child any more. Mr. MY has, like, a million kids or something."_

"I have eight children now Mr. Granek, not a million. With the grade you got in my class, I should expect you to be able to count." Jen and Ashley giggled as Jack began to protest, but that stopped when a police car pulled up to the curb and a very familiar police officer to Ashley and Jen climbed out. All activity stopped, and the officer and his partner sighed and headed for the two girls.

"Officers O'Neil and Carter. You haven't come to arrest me for that prank last year, have you?" Jen asked, trying to lighten the mood and failing. Both officers smiled weakly.

"We still don't have any conclusive evidence on that. But we know you did it." O'Neil said. "Actually, we're here about your mom." Neither girl said anything, as there was nothing to say, and Duo put a hand on Jens shoulder.

"Jen, we think she may be alive."

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How do you like? What do you think? Please review!


	6. Chapter 6

Hello Minna-san! Sorry for the long time in updating, but I had a major writers block and the space bar on my key board isn't working to well, so it takes even longer to write. Enjoy! And thank you to those who have kept reading!

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"Jen, we think she may be alive."

There was about three minutes of silence from everyone, even the kids to young to really understand what was going on were able to pick up that now wasn't the time for noise. At a glance from Trowa, the older children ushered the younger ones into the house, so that it was only, Jen, Ashley, and the Adults outside. Max stayed as well, standing next to his sister in case she needed support. And when it looked like Jen and Ashley weren't going to snap out of their trance anytime soon, Wufei stepped forward, showing his Preventer badge.

"Please explain." He said. Both detectives nodded.

"At first glance it looked exactly like what we had described to Jennifer on the phone; that she had drunk poison and set the apartment on fire. But our forensic evidence didn't match with that, and it raised questions. A closer look told us that it was possible that it could have been set by someone else and simply made to look like she set it. And then there's the matter of the body." Carter said.

"It wasn't burned?" Duo asked.

"It was burned all right, so to get a positive ID we went for the dental records. Only the body didn't have any teeth." Everyone looked at him, disbelief on all their faces.

"No teeth?" Quatre asked. O'Neil nodded.

"They had all been pulled prior to burning, and we weren't able to do anything with what was left. Our forensics team is hoping to pull a DNA sample from what was left of the skin, but it doesn't look good."

"And all this led you to believe that that body wasn't Hilde?" Duo asked.

"I have seen suicides of all kinds; I've seen homicides made to look like suicides; once we even had someone who'd been killed by the mafia who made it look like suicide. Did a damn good job of it to; only thing that led us to believe otherwise was that the victim had shown no signs of wanting to kill her self prior to the incident. That led us to ask the right questions and find out the truth. We knew Hilde from the many times she had to come pick up her daughter from the police station for pulling one prank or another. A friend of mine on the force dated her for a few months. We knew that there was no way she would kill herself. So we looked deeper." They all nodded.

"Do you have any leads so far?" Wufei asked. Both shook their heads.

"Just the guy she had been dating right before this, and he's disappeared." Wufei nodded.

"This is now a Preventer Investigation, I'll contact your department within a day for the specifics. Just get together all the evidence you have." He said. The detectives sighed.

"You know, I had a feeling that you were going to say that, and this is one case that I don't mind handing off. We've got enough cases on the board as it is, and I can already tell that we won't be able to go far with this one." They all shook hands, and the detectives gave Jen an extra squeeze before getting in their car and driving off. They all stood there, not really sure what to do.

"Can the little ones hear me if I start yelling out here?" Jen asked, her voice unusually calm.

"No, they shouldn't be able to." Quatre said warily.

"Good." She then began to scream, letting out all of her frustration and fear that had been bottled up for the last few days, and when the senseless yelling was done she started in on the cursing, in four languages. She stopped after about five minutes and stood there fuming.

"Feel better?" Ashley asked, unperturbed by this outburst while the others were all staring in shock.

"Not really. I think the Fates are conspiring against me. Or, at the very least, having a good laugh at my expense."

"They always have a good laugh at your expense."

"Yeah, well, usually that's because I planned something. This time they took matters into their own hands." Both girls were quiet, and then started to giggle, and everyone else began giggling as well.

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That night Jen sat on the roof top and stared at the night sky, not really thinking of anything. Sally and Wufei had left to go back to their home so that Wufei could get the Preventers started on investigating this new threat, and they had taken their kids with them. Quatre had gotten a call from the office not long after Officers O'Neil and Carter had left, and Manuel had gone with him. Trowa and Anna were going to leave tomorrow, so that left Jen and her newly found family. Family. What a concept. Especially for her. Up until now her family had consisted of her mom, Ashley, and Jack. A few friends were in there of course, but those were the three that she had always considered family. And now she had 6...7…no, 9 new family members. And only two of them were blood related. Jen sighed and blew a wisp of hair out of her eyes. All of this was a shit load of stuff to take in, and it was going to take a while.

She turned her head when she heard some creaking, and saw Duo's…no, _her fathers_…head poking out of the attic window that she had climbed through. He looked a little unsure of himself, and Jen couldn't help but feel the same.

"Is it all right if I come out there? Ashley told me you were up here." He said hesitantly.

"Yeah sure. It's your house after all." Duo climbed out and sat next to her, close, but not to close. He shifted nervously, wiping his hands on his pants.

"Your mom never…"

"I know." She interrupted before he could finish his sentence. They sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes.

"So how did…I mean…What did…Did Hilde tell you anything about me?" Duo finally asked. Jen picked at the rubber on her tennis shoe.

"She told me how you would go all out for the holidays, how you loved to sleep in and she would literally drag you out of bed on most days. How you could talk endlessly about nothing and no matter how down you were you would always try and cheer someone else up. She told me that she left you, that she loved you with all her heart but that you loved someone else." Jen wiped away the tears that threatened to fall and took a deep breath. "She said that she loved you so much that she had to let you go. And now that I think about it, she never said anything about you that would make me hate you. I guess that she did everything that she could so that I wouldn't hate you." They sat in silence again, not really sure what to do.

"So, what do you want to do?" Duo asked. "I mean, from what you said earlier, it looks like you already had plans for the summer. You can stay here if you like, of course, but if you already had plans then I don't want to get in the way." Jen looked at her recently found father, and could tell that he wanted to get to know her, but was doing his very best to let her set the terms of it. And she found that she wanted to get to know him to, and learn more about this person who had captured and held her mothers heart for years, though he'd had no idea. Plus, there were all these siblings, which had always been a secret dream of hers. She liked being around lots of people, and had always dreamed of one day having a large family of her own.

"Actually, I'd…I'd like to stay here. Jack's going to be disappointed, he said that he had rooms set up for Ashley and I and sounded real excited about it, but knowing him he'll probably insist that I get to know you some before school starts. He was always big on the importance of family." Duo's eyes lit up, and he impulsively hugged her, causing them to lose their foot hold and slide down the roof.

8

Ashley sat at the kitchen table, nursing a cup of coffee and appreciating the silence that had settled around the house now that most everyone was asleep. Well, almost silence anyway. Though if one listened close enough they could hear all sorts of things going on. Kyle was stirring restlessly as he slept, murmuring in his sleep. Keily was actually being quiet, having fallen into that deep sleep that toddlers do so well. Daisy and Alyssa had been whispering to each other earlier, determined to stay up as late as possible since it was summer and they had been given permission, but were now sleeping peacefully. There was a minor rustling of sheets from Jaime's room, who had said she was tired and gone to bed early, and the distinct sound of video games coming from Matt's room, where he and Jesse were duking it out. Duo she knew, had gone up on the roof to talk to Jen, Heero was somewhere around, and she was enjoying the coffee. So not really that quiet after all.

Even so, she still jumped and nearly back handed the person who had laid a hand on her shoulder. He simply bent backwards out of the way, and she was noticeably embarrassed.

"Oh geeze, sorry Mr. Yuy, I didn't hear you come in." She said apologetically. He waved his hand dismissively and sat down across from her with his own cup of coffee.

"Call me Heero." He said. Ashley nodded, and they sat in silence. Ashley wasn't sure how, but she could tell that Heero wanted to ask her something, probably about Jen, but didn't know how to go about doing so. So she started.

"She saved my life you know." Heero looked up briefly, and Ashley continued. "Not in the traditional sense, but that is what she did. Because if it wasn't for her and her mom, I'd probably be out on the street whoring myself for food right now, instead of with plans to go to Medical School."

"Please explain."

"Well, Jen and I met when we were in kindergarten, and she immediately tried to be friends with me. I wasn't really receptive at first, but she was just to bubbly and energetic to ignore. We were always together after that, and as we grew older she would sort of watch out for me. When I started to skip school she would hunt me down and make me do my homework, show up extra early in the mornings to pull me out of bed and drag me to school, then make sure that I stayed in school. Hilde always made sure that I had decent food and clothes, and she adopted me when my mother took off. And that's how it continued at each school that we went to. After we met Jack in middle school, he started to help her keep me in line. And keep Jen from pulling any prank that would get us into serious trouble. He's a year older than us, and took on the role of protective older brother."

"Sounds like she's a great person." Ashley nodded enthusiastically.

"She's the best. There isn't a mean bone in her body. Except when you threaten someone that she cares about of course. Then she's the scariest thing on this planet. Probably the universe." Heero nodded, a small smile on his face.

"Duo's the same." It was then that they heard a soft thump from outside the window, and despite the years of peace Heero immediately reacted like a soldier, hand reaching for his absent gun. Ashley reached the window first, and burst out laughing at Jen and Duo, who had fallen off the roof and landed in a tangle of arms and legs.

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How do you like my writing? Call 1-800-Please Review!


	7. Chapter 7

hi everyone! Standard disclaimers, ok? I own no onefrom the original show, everyone else is mine. Please enjoy!

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Pain was her reality now. It was all she had to focus on. Well, that and her captors were thoroughly pissed with her. She allowed her lips to curve up in an almost feral smile. They thought that they could break her. She who had been a member of OZ, trained to withstand all such physical pain. She who had raised two beautiful daughters (for she had always considered Ashley her second child) by herself who were at this moment safe with Duo. She knew that he would take care of them, and that the information on these bastards would make their way to the Preventers. They couldn't break her if they tried, and she would never tell them where her daughters were. Because they were safe, and she was going to do everything that she could to keep them that way. Stupid idiots. Hadn't they realized that by now? Apparently not, since here they were again to try and beat the information out of her. Stupid idiots. But they would soon learn, and when they did, Hilde knew that her life would be at an end. But at least her daughters would be safe.

He watched her through the video camera, curled up in a ball on the dirty cement floor. She had yet to break and tell them what she had done with the information. He hadn't expected it to be easy, she had been in OZ after all. But something else was driving this woman, and he didn't understand it. What in the world could cause her to hold on this tightly? He had to find out what it was, and that was the only reason that she was still alive. He needed to understand what it was that drove her like this.

An aid ran up and handed a folder to him, which he scanned quickly, then sighed.

"We still can't get anything out of her?" He asked. The aid shook his head.

"All she does is laugh like she's gone mad, and taunt us with the fact that she knows something that we don't." He closed the folder and handed it back to the boy, who was about 20 by the looks of it.

"And what about her daughter? What do we have on her?"

"She's apparently with her father, Duo Maxwell-Yuy." The man bristled at the name, it bringing back memories that he would rather forget. This complicated things.

"I want you to bring that girl to me, we may be able to get some use out of her concerning her mother."

"Yes sir."

8

It was an Earthquake. Sort of. Jen knew that she was shaking, and she shouldn't be. She was in that state where you know you're asleep and don't want to be woken up completely. But there it was. Two rhythmic thumping on her bed that felt like an Earthquake. _Tha-Thump! Tha-Thump! Tha-Thump!_ She cracked open one eye and slightly pulled the covers off her head to see what that thumping was. Daisy and Alyssa grinned and tackled her.

"She's awake!" They yelled together.

"OOMPH!" Jen exhaled when they hit her. The door to her room opened, and Heero stood in the doorway.

"I thought I told you two to leave her alone."

"But we want to play with her!" Alyssa exclaimed, turning huge puppy dog eyes up at him. Heero simply gave her a look.

"Go wake up Matt."

"But he throws us across the room!"

"That's why we padded the wall." Daisy and Alyssa grumbled but left the room. Two seconds later they were laughing and giggling as they played tag through the halls. "Time to get up. It's after ten." He told Jen. She blinked at him bleary eyed, and he switched on the light as he left. She stumbled out of bed and pulled on a shirt and jean shorts, ran a quick brush through her hair and decided to just leave it down. She went down into the kitchen, still rubbing sleep out of her eyes. She passed by Max as he was leaving his room, still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes also, as well as tying a hair tie to the end of his braid. Ashley looked up as they walked in the kitchen, and Jen saw the smirk in her eyes.

"So. The dead live." Jen threw her a look that plainly said 'don't mess with me this morning', but she apparently didn't get the message or was impervious to it by now because she just smiled sweetly and continued to feed Keily. Jen turned to Max.

"Did they really pad one of your walls?" She asked him. He gave a huge yawn before grinning sheepishly.

"Yeah. I've always thrown things when I wake up, though usually it's the phone or my alarm clock. The twins actually think that it's fun, though they're getting bigger than they used to be so they don't always make it to the wall." Jen giggled, then covered her ears along with everyone else when Jaime screamed. Kyle ran into the kitchen and hid behind Heero's legs.

"It's not my fault, I swear! I didn't know she was in the bathroom!" A very irate Jaime, wearing nothing but a bathrobe and half washed off mud mask on her face came in looking for all the world like she was going to kill one of the youngest Maxwell-Yuy's. Heero simply held out his hand to stop her as Kyle hid behind his legs.

"You'll have splotches if you don't wash that stuff off now." He said calmly. Jaime took a look at herself in the hall mirror, gave another earsplitting shriek and hauled her ass back to the bathroom. Jen barely suppressed a giggle as Kyle poked his head out hesitantly from Heero's legs.

"She's gone?" He whispered. Heero nodded solemnly and Kyle sighed in relief. "I swear I didn't know she was in there. I knocked and everything!" Heero smiled and ruffled the boys hair.

"We know Kyle." He said and steered him towards his sister, who waved her arms happily at seeing him.

"Oh, Jen, Jack called. He said that he would be bringing by some of our things today." Ashley leaned over and put a hand up to her mouth for a conspiratory whisper. "I think that he's using it as an excuse to see that we really are okay." Jen giggled as she got a bowl and some cereal.

"Sounds like him. Did he say when he'd be by?" Ashley checked her watch.

"Should be anytime now." And Speak of the Devil, a horn honked from outside just as she finished saying that. Everyone dashed to the window and saw a beat up Ford pick-up truck with a monster of a man climbing out. At his full height he stood at 6'3", had dark shaggy hair, black eyes and olive tanned skin. He had very well defined muscles from a lifetime of street fighting and basketball, and both Jen and Ashley knew that many girls(and a few guys)had had wet dreams about him. They still liked to laugh about their freshmen year when they had almost become instantly popular as everyone who'd had a crush on him tried to get on their good side to get to him.

Both girls squealed and ran out the door, and Duo looked at his daughter dumbfoundedly.

"She has to have picked that up from her mother." He said. Heero intertwined his fingers with his husbands and brought his face centimeters from Duo's.

"Then what was that I was hearing last night my love?" He whispered. Duo's mouth slowly curved up in a feral grin.

"EWWWW! Papa and Daddy are making smoochies!" Daisy called out while giggling. Duo gave the twins a _look_.

"Shouldn't you two be attacking Jen and Ashley's friend?" He said. They giggled and ran out of the kitchen, with Kyle and Keily close behind.

"Don't you want to greet him to, Love?" Heero asked. Duo shook his head.

"No rush. I already know him, remember? Besides, from the way that he talked about them all last year I know that he'd never hurt them." There came a crash from outside, and they looked out the window to see that the girls had tumbled into and broken one of their neighbor's potted plants. Duo and Heero cringed. "Then again, they might end up hurting him." Duo then tugged Heero gently towards the door.

"C'mon, I want you to meet this guy, you'll like him." Heero looked at his lover disbelievingly. "What? You will."

"The last student of yours that you said that about I wanted to kill." Duo rolled his eyes.

"That was just a one time thing; what are the odds of you wanting to kill _two_ of my students?" Jack spotted them as they walked out of the house, and waved enthusiastically.

"Yo! Mr. MY! How's it hanging? Not often with him as your husband I'll bet." Heero turned a familiar look on him and Duo.

"The odds are very good." Duo jabbed him in the ribs, and Jack kept an easy grin on his face while all those who understood his joke doubled over laughing.

"Sorry to just drop by like this Mr. MY, but I had to see for myself that my little hellion-for-sisters were all right. Plus, I figured that Jen would want to get to know you a little and you'd probably ask if she wanted to stay with you, so I brought her some provisions and her life." Everyone except for Jen and Ashley looked at him like he'd grown a second head. They looked at him in disbelief.

"What do you mean, 'her life'?" Max asked, his eyebrows lifting curiously. Jack did a double take looking at Jen and Max before answering.

"Well, you know, birthday parties, Halloween, school pageants, baking mishaps, pranks gone wrong. You know, the important stuff."

"Jack you didn't." Ashley said. Jacks grin broadened.

"Of course I did, It's all in the back of the truck."

"You mean all of our silly moments, times we were being absolutely stupid, _the most embarrassing moments of our lives_, are in the back of your truck."

"I couldn't resist a chance to torture the two of you."

"This is payback for all the times we embarrassed you in front of your crushes, isn't it." Jack just smiled broadly as Duo and Max doubled over laughing. He began to deposit boxes and duffle bags on the ground.

"Anyway, I just dropped by to see you, I've got to get to work. See you when school starts Mr. MY, and Jen, Ash? Call me later." He then hopped into his truck and drove off, leaving all of them staring at the boxes and bags. Jen and Ashley looked at each other.

"We are _so_ going to have to plan the perfect payback. Better than last time." Jen said.

"Most definitely." They turned around to see Duo and max looking at the boxes with pure mischievous evil in their eyes. Heero just shook his head and sighed, then turned and headed into the house. Duo turned to his daughter.

"So."

"So."

"Should I make the popcorn or should you?"

"I'll make it. You have to dig up any and all such things that involve my new siblings. It's only fair, right?" Jen asked. Max could barely contain his laughter as an idea popped into his head.

"If that's the case." He said, grinning wider than before. "Then we should call our Uncles and get them to bring their embarrassing videos." Duo burst out laughing, doubling over and clutching his stomach. Heero shook his head from the kitchen window as he talked on the phone with Wufei.

"Yeah, it sounds like Max just came up with what I told you. So are you going to bring them over?"

"_I'll be dropping the kids and Sally off, I'm still working on that information that Jen gave us. If Hilde still is alive, I'd love to give her a job at the Preventers, this is some of the best work that I've seen."_ Heero smirked.

"Does Sally know that you're praising a woman?" Wufei scowled at him.

"_Have you called Relena or Zechs yet? They'll want in on this, plus they're dying to meet Jen and her friend."_

"I was going to call them after I hung up with you. If they do want in, we'll have to hold it at their place, ours is too small."

"_I'm sure they'll agree. Thanks for the heads up, but I gotta get going now. See ya."_

"Hn." The sound of feet tramping, body bumping, 'Hey watch it!', and giggling signaled that everyone was coming inside with the boxes of 'incriminating videos' and bags of Jen and Ashley's things. Duo was literally bouncing around the house.

"Hey love, fire up the TV and get the others over here, we're going to have a marathon." Heero shook his head.

"Not just yet, I'm going to call Zechs and Relena and see if they want in and if we can do it at one of their houses since they have more space." Everyone's eyes lit up.

"Really? We're going to see Uncle Zechs and Aunt Relena?" Jesse asked. Heero nodded.

"As soon as I call them. Put the boxes out of the way where we can find them and scatter so I can make the calls in peace. I'm sure Jen and Ashley want to see the city."

"We're getting money right?" Heero glared and Duo rolled his eyes, but both reached for their wallets and pulled out plenty of cash.

"This is for the little ones, you older kids have your own money. Jen, Ashley, do you two have money?" Heero asked as he handed the cash to Jesse, who had proven to be the most responsible of their brood. Jen and Ashley looked at each other, mentally going over what funds they had left from traveling.

"Uh, we have some, plus I think there's still plenty in our bank account." Ashley said. Duo pressed cash into both their hands.

"Consider this the first of many make-up birthday and Christmas presents. You save your bank account for school." Both girls looked like they were about to protest, but Heero just gave them a look of no protest and pushed the kids out the door.

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Sorry for the long update, but I got stuck a while back, then there was work…you get the picture. So, how did you like? Or not like? I take criticism to! Just let me know that you're reading! Also, anything you would like to see? More with Hilde, with the other kids, stuff like that. Let me know!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimers: Hey, since we all know that none of us writing fan fiction own the shows or characters that we're writing about, and that we're not making any money off of this, are disclaimers really necessary?

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Dear Diary,

Wow, it's been a long time since I wrote in this, I'm actually surprised that I still have it. But a lot has changed for me recently, and since the only person that I really feel comfortable talking to already knows everything and has already given me that _look_ that told me that she didn't want to rehash anything. I don't blame her really, but I need to get all of this out of my head before it explodes. That would be gross. My head exploding and spraying guts and thoughts and blood everywhere. In that detached part of my head I'm recognizing that happening as somewhat fascinating. In the human part of my mind I realize that that thought is freaky, and that if my head exploded it would be pretty disgusting. But this is way off topic of what I wanted to write about, something that I was never sure I would ever write about, aside from my childish fantasies.

My father. I've met him. At 17 years of age I have met my father and the reason that my mother left. My mother had told me enough about him that I knew he and I shared similar personalities, but that did nothing to prepare me for the…_exuberance_…with which he approaches life, or the complete and unconditional love that he holds for each of his adopted children, and the one child that is his and Heero's. That's the reason that my mother left, this guy named Heero. My father was deeply in love with him, still is, and from what I've seen the feeling is _very_ mutual. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do about that, if anything.

I can't help but wonder, if Heero had never revealed to Duo that he loved him, or Duo had never revealed the same to Heero, would I have grown up with both my parents, as most other kids? Did he even love my mother at one point or did he just see her as a kid sister, or even as much as a fuck buddy? I'm still adjusting to the fact that I now have a father, could I even ask him something like that? And I can't for the life of me figure out what Heero thinks about me. Am I a reminder of something that Duo had before him? And if so, does that hurt him? I almost hope that it does, in some small, rebellious part of my mind that almost delights in seeing pain in others after having so much pain inside myself. But then I remember what my mother told me about him, about them all, and feel guilty for wishing more pain on someone who had already experienced so much.

I guess what I really want to do is march right up to him and ask him about how he feels about me showing up now and demand an honest answer, and then yell and scream at him for stealing my father away from my mother and hurting her. I know that it hurt her that she left, even though it was her choice, and that she denied it. But I could see it in her eyes whenever she looked at me. When I was little and working on a project and giving it my complete attention she said that I would get the same look on my face that my father always had when he was fully concentrating on something. I could see the hurt then, and it hurt me.

Boy, have I been going on a mindless drivel or what? I can't even remember if I had a purpose to this entry or if I just needed to vent. Or maybe that was my purpose. I really don't know. I really don't know anything anymore for that matter. Other than the fact that for some strange reason I decided to stay with my father for the summer to get to know him and all of my new siblings better. Though I think that if I had declined his offer Ashley would have beat my ass for doing so. I'm not sure why, but she seems to be more adamant about me getting to know him than I have ever seen her about anything. But I'll figure that out later, because speaking of Ashley, I think that she has finally realized that she's a lesbian, or at least bi. I figured it out sophomore year, but until now she had never given it much thought. So what happened to make her learn this about herself? Well, we met some more of my fathers extended family when we all got together to watch embarrassing videos since Jack had decided to torture us by dropping off ours. And considering that this part of the extended family included Relena Peacecraft and her brother Zechs Merquise, we were more than a little stunned, much more than when we had met Senator Winner, who insists that I call him Quatre. I think that he'd prefer Uncle Quatre like the other kids call him, but he knows that would be pushing it.

But back to Ashley. Seems that she had a thing for Zech's oldest Trista, who looks exactly like her father. I found Ashley starring starry-eyed at the ceiling after that first night, and when I finally managed to get her to talk she said that she was in love, and I had endless amounts of fun teasing her about it. She then countered by saying that she would do worse when I fell in love. She probably will to. But the best part about it, is that I think Trista returns Ashley's feelings, though that just may be my hope that Ashley finds real happiness.

My hand is starting to cramp, so I think that I'll stop for now. But with everything that's happened recently you can probably expect more entries, seeing as this journal is the only thing that will listen at the moment. I don't even know if I can talk about any of this to Max, despite how much we're alike. He did grow up with both his parents after all, where as I don't really know either of them.

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Sorry for the short chapter, and the long update but I'm trying to get more into Jennifer's head and this seemed like the best way to do it. I'll try to update a little more often, but I need to think of the ideas first. Does anyone have any experience with Jens situation or anything similar? I'd really like to know what someone like Jen would be thinking.


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